I picked up Sam at his house at 7:00 AM and we got on the water just before 07:45.

NOTE: This is one of our longest lake commutes.

Ready to go

 

We noticed that the water was quite low compared to our other forays into this area.

 

Right out of the chute we saw a bald eagle fly out of the trees next to us across the lake.

Sam checking to see if he missed the shot of the bald eagle.  Yup, missed it.

 

Sam paddling into the first opening past the cypress island

 

A Hitchhiker on my cockpit rim

 

In addition to the low water, many places were choked with these water weeds

 

Kent at the end of the first channel, still in the shade (Photo Credit: Sam Reyna)

Kent paddling into the second channel, not still in the shade (Photo credit: Sam Reyna)

Sam sneaking up on an egret.  This is actually pretty difficult from the water.

Just before this photo was taken I had been working myself off of a mud bar for about 10 minutes.  I finally had to give up and get out of the kayak to drag it to the nearest 6” pool, which was about 10 feet in front of me.

 

Log or Alligator?

 

We did the math (the statistical probability of an alligator in DeGray Lake approaches 0), but we still bumped into it in honor of the Dave Kitson alligator confirmation methodology. 

 

We saw great blue heron, egrets, a bald eagle, a belted kingfisher, ducks, geese, frogs, damselflies, dragonflies and some vultures.

 

Heading back to base through the weeds

 

We were off the water by 10:00 AM.  The cool weather made this a very pleasant little outing.

 

LESSONS LEARNED:

 

The weeds grow in water deep enough to float a kayak, even though they slow you down considerably.
COROLARRY: It’s better to paddle in the weeds than to get stuck on a shallow mud bar. 

PRACTICAL TIP: You can use the weeds as a part of your route-finding strategy in this shallow lake.

 

 

 

Where we went:

 

         The author, Kent Walters

 

Please see photo album    Here         

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